THE family of a woman who died following a car crash have spoken of her passion for dancing and her loving and caring manner.Susan Winterbottom, 55, was seriously injured in a head-on collision when the Vauxhall Nova car she was driving was in collision with a Vauxhall Cavalier on the A134 just outside Nayland on the Essex/Suffolk Border.

THE family of a woman who died following a car crash have spoken of her passion for dancing and her loving and caring manner.

Susan Winterbottom, 55, was seriously injured in a head-on collision when the Vauxhall Nova car she was driving was in collision with a Vauxhall Cavalier on the A134 just outside Nayland on the Essex/Suffolk Border.

She was taken to Colchester General Hospital after the crash at about 7.30pm on Thursday, but died yesterday.

Mrs Winterbottom, of Pownall Crescent, Colchester, was environmental scientific officer for St Edmundsbury Borough Council in Suffolk.

Originally from Ipswich, she moved to Colchester in 1974 and was married with two daughters, Emily, who is attending university in York and Anna, who lives in London. Mrs Winterbottom also had a brother and a sister.

Her husband, David, said his wife enjoyed dancing and belonged to a local dance group.

He said: "Susan was a loving mother, wife, daughter and sister and will be sadly missed by all who knew her."

The family said last night they were too upset to talk about what had happened.

A spokeswoman for St Edmundsbury Borough Council said: "Susan was very well respected and admired by her colleagues and friends at St Edmundsbury Council.

"She will be sadly missed by everyone here and our thoughts are with her family at this time."

Mrs Winterbottom's Vauxhall Nova car was in collision with a Vauxhall Cavalier car which was driven by a 54-year-old woman from Great Cornard in Suffolk. The driver suffered whiplash injuries.

A 34-year-old woman from Great Waldingfield who was driving a BMW car which was also involved in the accident was not hurt.

Traffic in the area was diverted onto minor roads because the A134 was closed as emergency service personnel working into the night.

Crews from Colchester Fire Station attended the accident and Stanway's road policing unit was also in attendance.

A date for the funeral service has yet to be arranged.

Anyone with any information about the accident should call Stanway's road policing unit on 01206 762512.